BigOrange90Jimmy said:
Rene, do you think I will be fine with the 465 behind the 6.2 with my current setup? I don't really think the budget will allow for a new engine AND a 4500. This truck will largely be used to get me back and forth from college and to respond to fire calls. I won't be towing anything absurdly heavy except the beater truck. How would a turbo setup affect mileage and life on the 6.2?
Ash, you get rid of the big orange??? Im going to assume your just building another truck.
As far as the 6.2 and the NV4500, yes, it is avaliable, and yes, it will bolt up. My pickup came stock that way. These came in a lot of GM pickups from 88-> 2000 I think. I happen to have one of the early NV4500's with the 6.31 first gear. Its completely useless unless I have over 5000lbs of trailer. But its highly desired by a lot of people. (its 6.31 in reverse too!) There are some bell housing differences that you might have to deal with, as the clutch on the IFS setups are on the passenger side, not the drivers.
I've netted 21MPG on the highway before in spring. thats crusing at approximately 1900-2000 RPM. It was an easy cruse, the only problem was with 4.10 gears and OD, I was only turning like 62-64mph. Where the speed limit was 70-75!
(I have 245 tires on).
The current upgrades im working on- (But have had 0 progress)
1. 255/85 or 285/75 tires, should let me increase my cruise speed to like 70, at the same RPM.
2. Turbo Upgrade for the 6.2- I've got a GM8 turbo and exhaust manifold. I've been trying to find a 6.5TD intake manifold, but they are kinda hard to find cheap. Might be cheaper to get the banks intake manifold. Your installation may vary, your AC may have interference, requiring you to use a banks Exhaust manifold as well. They also sell a flow master cross over pipe/down pipe kit for about 100 bucks, so that is what i will be doing.
3. Full Waste Vegetable Oil conversion. I no long have rights to post (probably cause I didnt pay, duh) on the diesel forum. This summer I did my own testing and stuff with it, did about 8000 miles in a 83 mercedes Turbo diesel, and about 10000 with my 6.2 pickup. Both ate it up like it was nothing. In fact, the only reason I stopped running it was that I bent my clutch fork, so... yeah.
It seems most research indicates that Vegetable oil acutally has superior lubricating properties- So much so, that some folks have been using a quart every fill up, for nothing else other than for lubricating properties. The Stanadyne DB2 injector did not complain at all about a 50/50 mix of WVO and diesel, and on several occassions, I just carried a few race jugs full of WVO and filled it up along the way. I've probably had concentrations up to 80% without problems. The only issue you will run into is that when the engine is cold, the WVO isnt as loved. hard startups and what not will happen if ambient temps are below 60 (for 60/40 blend) and below 75 for 80/20 blends. This is why i am installing dual tank systems. Hence project number 4.
4. Tri tank setup- 34 gallon diesel primary, 34 Gallon WVO secondary, 24 gallon WVO primary. It may seem a little excessive in terms of "capacity" but when you think about fuel prices, you'll understand my thinking. Lets say I want to go to uwharrie, and tow my k5 and bring my truck camper. Assuming tihs combo, I get 13mpg. I would need 61 gallons of fuel each way. My under belly capacity will be approximately 60 gallons of WVO. That means my drive down will be essentially free. And free.. is good! Oh yeah, and instead of the diesel stench, you get deep fryer stench. You know, that smell you get when you heat up oil right before frying a turkey? Yep.. that smell. It also depends on where you get your oil from. The oil picks up ... shall we say, the "essence" of whatever was cooked. So if you go to a burger place, you will get burger and fries smell, so on and so forth. My current batch smells like General Tso's chicken and Tempora.
If your interested in this kinda setup, there are several boards that are quite good- For your k5 however, the 6.2 I think is an excellent choice in terms of simplicity, avaliability, and overall acceptance of a variety of fuel. Though I've heard that all the older IDI diesels are quite reliably running WVO. I'd also check neighborhood avaliability of good WVO. the first few times asking is worse than a 13 year old asking a girl out. After a while, your skin just gets tough, and you can ask anyone!
If you can, I'd suggest fabricating a tank- Even maybe using one of the side saddle tanks from the C/K trucks up to 1987. That should fit easier on the outside of the frame rail, and fit 20 gallons of fuel.
Now all I need is some time to finish up some projects!!!
I think I just found my motivator in the K5.
